IOC 


U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS 


BULLETIN Xo. 17 


SUGGESTIONS 





FOK THE 


ESTABLISHMENT OF FOOD LABORATORIES 


IN CONNECTION "WITH THE 


AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS 


OF THE 


TJ’STITTCD STATES 




PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE 


•iG'A,!. 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1893 






















































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100 


U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS 


BULLETIN No. 17 


SUGGESTIONS 


FOR THE 


ESTABLISHMENT OF FOOD LABORATORIES 


IN CONNECTION WITH THE 


AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS 


OF THE 



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PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE 


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WASHINGTON 

G O V E11 N M E N T PRINTING OFFICE 

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OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS 


A. W. Harris, Director. 

A. C. True, Assistant Director and Editor of departments of Botany, Field Crops, 
and Horticulture. 

W. O. Atwater, Special Editor for Foreign Work. 

E. W. Allen, Editor of departments of Chemistry, Foods and Animal Production, 
and Dairying. 

W. H. Beal, Editor of departments of Fertilizers, Soils, and Indexes. 

Walter II. Evans, Editor of departments of Seeds, Weeds, and Diseases of 
Plants. 

S. L. Sommers, Librarian and Record Clerk. 


% 


THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 


Alabama — Auburn: Colle.go Station; W. L. 
Broun.! Uniontown: Canebrake Station; H. 
Benton. J 

Arizona— Tucson: F. A. Gulley.* 

Arkansas— Fayetteville: It. L. Bennett.* 
California— Berkeley: E. W. Hilgard.* 
Colorado— Fort Collins: Alston Ellis.* 
Connecticut— yew Haven: State Station; S. W. 
Johnson.* Storrs: Storrs School Stationj W. 
O. Atwater.* 

Delaware— Newark: A. T. Neale.* 

Florida— Lake City: O. Clnte.* 

Georgia— Experiment: R. J. Redding.* 

Idaho— Moscow: C. P. Fox.* 

Illinois — Champaign: G. E.Morrow.t 
Indiana— Lafayette: C. S. Plumb.* 

Iowa — Ames: James Wilson.* 

Kansas— }fanhattan: G. T. Fairchild. § 
Kentucky— Lexington: M. A. Scovell.* 
Louisiana— A udubon Park, New Orleans: Sugar 
Station. Baton Rouge: State Station. Calhoun: 
North Louisiana Station; W. C. Stubbs.* 
Maine— Orono: W. H. Jordan.* 

Maryland— College Park: R. H. Miller.* 
Massachusetts— A mherst: State Station; C. A. 
Goessmanu.* Amherst: Hatoh Station; H. H. 
Goodell * 

Michigan — Agricultural College: L. G. Gorton.* 
Minnesota— St. Anthony Park: 

M ississippi —Agricultural College: S. M. Tracy.* 


Missouri— Columbia: E. D. Porter.* 

Montana— Bozeman: S. M. Emery.* 
Nebraska— Lincoln: C. L. Ingersoll.* 

Nevada — Reno: S. A. Jones.* 

New Hampshire— Durham: G.H. Whitcher.* 
New Jersey— New Brunswick: State Station; E. 

B. Voorhees.* College Station; A. Scott.* 

New Mexico— Las Cruces: H. Hadley.* 

New York— Geneva: State Station; P. Collier.* 
Ithaca: Cornell University Station; I. P.Rob¬ 
erts.* 

North Carolina— Raleigh: H. B. Battle.* 
North Dakota— Fargo: J. B. Power.* 

Ohio— Wooster: C. E. Thorne.* 

Oklahoma— Stillwater: J.C.Neal.* 

Oregon— Corvallis: J. M. Bloss.* 
Pennsylvania— State College: H. P. Armshy.* 
Rhode Island— Kingston: C. 0. Flagg.* 

South Carolina— Fort Hill: J. S. Newman.| 
South Dakota— Brookings: L. McLouth.| 
Tennessee— Knoxville: C. F. Vandcrford.* 
Texas — College Station: J. H.Connell. * 

Utah— Logan: J. W. Sanborn.* 

Vermont— Burlington: J. L. Hills.* 

Virginia— Blacksburg: J. M. McBryde.* 
Washington— Pullman: E. A. Bryan.* 

West Virginia— Morgantown: J. A.Myers.* 
Wisconsin— Madison: W. A. Henry.* 

Wyoming — Laramie: A. A. Johnson.* 


•Director. t Assistant director in charge, 

t President of board of direction. $ Chairman of council. 

[|Acting director. 


3 






LETTER OE TRANSMITTAL. 


Ui S. Department of Agriculture, 

Office of Experiment Stations, 
Washington , D. C ., September 15 , 1893 . 

Sir: In accordance with your instructions I transmit herewith, for 
publication, an article entitled u Suggestions for the Establishment of 
Food Laboratories in Connection with the Agricultural Experiment 
Stations of the United States,” by the Hon. Edward Atkinson, of Bos¬ 
ton, Mass., together with the accompanying prefatory note. 

Very respectfully, 

A. W. Harris, 

Director, 


Hon. J. Sterling Morion, 

Secretary oj Agriculture . 


\ 


5 




PREFATORY NOTE 


The following paper (Suggestions for the Establishment of Food 
Laboratories in Connection with the Agricultural Experiment Sta¬ 
tions of the United States), submitted by the Hon. Edward Atkinson, 
of Boston, Mass., is published as presenting a line of thought which is 
extremely suggestive, and seems to be strictly pertinent to the work 
of agricultural investigation inaugurated by the creation of the agricul¬ 
tural experiment stations in the several States. 

The subject deserves earnest consideration and thorough discussion, 
to be followed in due time, it is to be hoped, by an earnest effort on 
the part of those American scientific investigators who are the best 
qualified, and endowed with the best facilities tor the prosecution of 
such work, in completing the work of agricultural investigation here¬ 
tofore largely devoted to elucidating the problems in the life and 
nutrition of plants and the lower animals, by the most thorough and 
careful research into the relations between man’s nutrition and man’s 
achievement. 

In the meantime it is proper to state that the Department of Agri¬ 
culture has already undertaken that part of the work which is indi¬ 
cated by Mr. Atkinson as the first tiling to be done, namely, the col¬ 
lation of the results of foreign experiments in this line, in the hope 
that when all the information obtainable on this important subject has 
been gathered and digested by the best authority accessible on human 
nutrition, the Department will then be prepared to present the prac¬ 
tical results of work already done to the people in concise and read¬ 
able form, and secondly, to formulate a plan for further investigations 
by experts in the United States with special reference to the condi¬ 
tions and needs of our own people. 

It is believed that a perusal of Mr. Atkinson’s suggestive paper will 
serve to impress the reader with the importance of the subject and its 
value to humanity, as well as to convey some idea of the difficulties to 
be met and overcome in a solution of the problems involved. 

J. Sterling Morton, 

Secretary. 


September 15 ; 1893. 


7 






































SUGGESTIONS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FOOD LABORATORIES IN CONNEC¬ 
TION WITH THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS OF THE UNITED 
STATES. 


By Edward Atkinson. 


In dealing with this subject, the undersigned sets up no claim to any 
complete scientific training. His vocation has been to compile and col¬ 
late the data of science in regard to nutrition, in order to determine 
how far the discoveries of science have been converted into a common 
and easily practiced art. 

Had the human race waited for the development of a science of nutri¬ 
tion, mankind would have suffered from starvation, as if men had not 
used a spoken language until they knew tho rules of grammar. 

All applied science must be based on experience and natural selec¬ 
tion. Each race, each country, and almost each section of each coun¬ 
try, through a process of natural selection, appears to have reached a 
unit of food, simple or compound, in which “the nutrients,” so-called, 
are to be found in about the right proportion. Each of these food units 
has been produced or combined in such a manner as to assure the 
maximum of nutrition at the least cost. Among the poorest nations 
and among the poorest people the art of nutrition appears to be better 
comprehended than among the more prosperous races or states, and 
especially among the most prosperous class in each community. The 
people of this country are the most wasteful in the world. 

The following examples of substantially complete national foods, 
combining the principal nutrients—nitrogen, starch, and fat—in sub¬ 
stantially right proportions, are cited in proof of the foregoing state¬ 
ment. It will be observed that where the supply of meat is deficient 
the nitrogenous element in food is provided for in the consumption 
of leguminous plants and cheese. 

1 . England: Wheat bread with cheese rather than with butter. 

2. Scotland: Oatmeal, milk, and salt. 

3. France: Soups and stews containing a large element of leguminous plants— 
beans, peas, lentils, etc. 

4. Italy: Macaroni made from wheat, and polenta made from maize, cooked with 
cheese made from skim milk. 

5. India and China: Rice combined with beans or peas. 


9 




10 

6. Japan: Tha common food called “ mi«o/' compounded of rice and barley fer- 
tnented, with beans or peas. 

7. Canada: Porridge made of dry peas, coarse wheat crackers, savory herbs, and 
a little pork. 

8. New England: Baked beans and brown bread, or codfish balls, salt pork, and 
potatoes. 

9. The creoles of New Orleans: Rice and red beans. 

10. The blacks of the South: Bacon, corn meal, and molasses. 

To the uniustructed raiud the nutrition of the soil, of the plant, of 
the beast, and of the man, appears to follow practically uniform rules. 
It consists in the right conversion of certain elements which in the 
plant, the beast, and the man, are derived from air, water, and soil, 
into compounds; these compounds have been named nutrients. 
When dealing with the consumption of food by animals, these nutri¬ 
ents have been divided into: First, protein, the albuminoid or nitro¬ 
genous compound; second, carbohydrates, or the starchy compound; 
third, fats. To these are added certain mineral elements of food which 
need not be dealt with in this rough and ready form of analysis, as they 
are found in sufficient measure in almost all kinds of food. 

Now while there is among uninstructed people an apparently wide 
but somewhat indefinite knowledgeof the general processes of nutrition 
derived from experience, there appears to be an absence of the exact 
knowledge of the relative proportions in which plant, beast, and man 
are nourished by means of soil, air, and water. 

Dealing first with the soil, it would appear that the elements for the 
fertilization of specific soils can be determined only through a right 
knowledge of the inherent properties of the soils and the general condi¬ 
tions of heat, moisture, and other physical agencies in each of the various 
localities. If I am rightly informed, greater progress has been made 
in this matter in Prussia and perhaps in some other parts of Germany 
than anywdiere else. Soils have been graded, described, classified, 
numbered, and registered, so that the prospective purchaser may learn 
their relative value, and to some extent the properties or elements of 
fertility present or required in each kind of soil. lie may, therefore, 
determine what kind of crops he can raise upon it, and w’hat specific 
kind of fertilizer will be needed to make the most abundant product. 
Herein perhaps lies the greatest value of the agricultural experiment 
stations of this country. 

Due consideration having thus been given, which may lead to the 
right method at the least cost for fertilizing the soils with a view to 
the production of plants, we next come to the nutrition of the beast. 
In this matter there appears to be little variation. It must be accom¬ 
plished within strict and easily defined limits, many of which are sub¬ 
stantially established, although the reasons have not as a rule been 
given, nor are the proportions of the nutrients in each kind of food 
fully comprehended. The specific theories of how' to nourish trotting 
horses, mules, beeves for flesh, cows for inilk, and hogs for pork, are now* 


11 


fairly well established, very largely through the intervention of the 
experiment stations. The varieties of food can be dogmatically stated 
but the reasons for the variation and the exact proportions of the sev¬ 
eral nutrients are not commonly known. It follows that discussions of 
this subject in nearly all the agricultural papers are vague. They lack 
the definiteness of a science. The right nutrition for sheep with a view 
to the relative production of carcass or wool does not yet seem to be 
well comprehended. 

THE TRUE WORK OF TnE FOOD LABORATORY. 

Neither the conversion of what are now waste products to the nutri¬ 
tion of animals nor the conversion of food so that there will be little 
waste is yet well comprehended. There has been some progress in the 
conversion of the waste products of the animal itself to useful purposes, 
but it is confined mainly to great establishments. In many parts of 
the country there is a very great waste of food before the food is dis¬ 
tributed, and yet greater waste in the domestic kitchen. This subject 
of waste may be developed in a complete and scientific manner. The 
rules of nutrition or the proportions of the nutrients required may be 
established so as to be taught in every common school. The science of 
human nutrition may become an art. To this end the relative propor¬ 
tions of the nutrients which are combined in the various plants having 
first been established, they may be put in tabular form. Then the use 
of these food plants in due proportion may so far be'made a matter of 
rule that the exceptions may be mastered by persons of common intel¬ 
ligence. For instance, the development of the silo and the feeding of 
animals with silage has been very recently introduced in this country. 
It is now well known that the greater bulk of the food put-into the silo 
may be maize or cornstalks and the condition or point of growth at 
which they should be put into the silo above or below ground has be¬ 
come well established. It is also well known that corn fodder by itself 
is not a complete food because it is deficient in the nitrogenous element. 
There are a great many leguminous plants which can be grown with 
the maize, such as the cow pea, clover, buckwheat, and others. Now 
if tables are given of the general standard of nutrition, accompanied 
by tables giving the usual proportion of the nutrients in maize and in 
each type of legume, the silo can be filled by anyone in sufficiently 
exact proportions to make the food complete. One of my correspon¬ 
dents, now deceased, in North Carolina, learned this lesson for him¬ 
self. He so combined cornstalks and pea vines in the silo as to make 
a complete food for working horses and mules at a cost of less than 
$2 per ton, 2 tons of silage being equal to 1 ton of the best hay. From 
these well established rules of proportion it would become a very simple 
matter to lay off the farm, with the right number of acres of corn and 
the right number of acres of pea vines or of clover, in order that the 
silage from a given area might contain nitrogen, starch, and fat, in sub- 


12 


stautially true proportions. Again, these proportions may be changed 
according to the purpose, whether to make fat, meat, or milk. 

The investigations which have been made in this country, notably by 
Prof. W. O. Atwater, indicate that our national dietary is very one¬ 
sided. The farmer and the consumer both lose heavily in consequence. 
We produce relatively too much fat, starch, and sugar and too little 
protein. 

Again, might not the art of combining skim milk with the refuse of 
the gristmill be so established as to make a complete food for poultry, 
and perhaps for cowsf A half-pound of chaff, giving bulk, combined 
with 4 pounds or pints of skim milk, with a little lime and a little 
molasses or syrup added to make saccharateof lime, evaporated slowly 
by heat into a porridge, makes a complete food for hens for the produc¬ 
tion of eggs as well as tlesh. This has been established. Chaff of any 
kind and skim milk cooked together at a low heat can be made into 
what may be called cow bread, thus restoring to the cow all the solids 
which had been derived from the soil in the production of milk, and 
finally returning them to the soil. 

Now, while there are many known data, and while our rules have 
been or may be established for the nutrition of beasts and of poultry, 
have we as yet established the data for the nutrition of mankind to 
anything like the same extent? Is it consistent to expend large sums 
of money on agricultural experiment stations to the end that the 
largest production of the best kind of food may be brought about at 
the least cost, while we utterly neglect the most important depart¬ 
ment, viz, the right conversion of this material to the use of mankind? 
Do we not as a nation convert the most abundant supply of the best 
food material into bad feeding through our general ignorance of the 
processes of cooking? There is yet no popular science of cooking. 
There is yet no common art of cooking. There is now widespread 
ignorance on the whole subject, resulting in a waste which is not only 
unprofitable but noxious in its influence on the general health of the 
community. 

The science of cooking consists in the right application of heat at 
the right temperature or degree of heat for the right time to the various 
elements of food. To what well known popular treatise can anyone 
refer in which this art is taught? Of what do the rules laid down in 
the innumerable books on cooking mainly consist? Do they not con¬ 
sist in empirical instructions how to surmount the faults of the common 
cooking stove or range? Mankind makes use of a greater variety of 
food materials than any other class of animals, but there is less varia¬ 
tion in the right nutrition of man than exists in respect to the soil, the 
plant, or the beast. The nutrition of man is more simple, more capable 
of being established by rule; the variation may consist more in the 
quantity than the kind of food, so as to meet the demands of the work 
done and of the season. All these variations are capable of being 


ft 


13 


established under very simple rules. It has proved to be a very 
simple matter to lay out dietaries or rations for one or more days, con¬ 
sisting of the common articles of food at customary prices. The quan¬ 
tity only may be varied according to the age, sex, or according to the 
kind of work for which the food is required to provide the requisite 
energy. As a rule, the difference between the man and the beast is 
that the larger portion of the food of the man is cooked; the lesser 
portion being consumed as it conies from the field. The following 
examples are given, which substantially depend upon how they are 
cooked for the amount of energy which may be derived from them. 
The two examples are taken from the Science of Nutrition, a treatise 
prepared by the author of this article, and published by Messrs Dam- 
rell & Upham, Boston. In it are given many examples of complete 
dietaries for thirty days, varying in cost. The dietaries of lowest and 
of highest cost are selected. The constants in all the dietaries consist 
of grain, vegetables, and sugar; the variables consist of meat, poultry, 
milk, and leguminous plants. The prices given are those of the Boston 
market at the date of compilation: 

DIETAKY No. 2. 


Materials. 


CONSTANTS. 


Flour_ 

Oatmeal.. 
Corn meal 
Hominy.. 
Butter"... 

Suet. 

Potatoes. 
Cabbage. 
Carrots.. 
Onions... 
Sugar.... 


Total 


VARIABLES. 


Beef or mutton 
Eggs (1$ dozen) 
Beans and peas 

Skim milk. 

Suet. 


Total. 

Total for 30 days 
Total for 1 day.. 


Quantity. 

Cost per 
pound. 

Total. 

Calories. 

Poundt. 

22 

$0.02$ 

.04 

$0.55 
.12 


3 


3 

.03 

. 09 


6 

.04J 

.28 

. 27 


2 

. 56 


2 

. 06 

. 12 


10 

-02$ 

.03 

05 


3 

.09 


2 

.02$ 

. 05$ 

. 05 

. 05 


2 

. u 


2 

.10 




57 


2.31 

79,770 


10 

.06 

.60 


•) 

*. 18 

.27 


8 

.07 

.56 


15 

.02 

.30 


2 

.06 

.12 




37 


1.85 

29,925 



94 


4.16 109.695 

3.1 


. 139| 3,656. 5 



Cost per week, 97.3 cents. 


*Por dozen. 














































































14 


1)1 START No. IX 


Material!. 

(Quantity. 

Coat per 
pound. 

Total. 

Calonea. 

CONST ANTS. 






Pounds. 




Flour . ... 

22 


55 


Oatmeal . 

3 

.04' 

. 12 


(lorn midi . .. 

3 

.03 

.09 


Hninin v........ 

6 

.044 

.27 


Kill ter ,,,. . . . 

2 

.28 

.56 



2 

.06 

.12 



10 

. 024 

.25 


.,Tt .ttt.T r . , . . .. 

3 

.03 

. 09 


...........r T tT ,,. _ trtT _* .. T .. 

Oar ml a. 

2 

.024 

.05 


Onion a. .....t. 

«) 

.054 

.11 


fiugar.. 

2 

.05 

. 10 


Total. 

57 


2.31 

79,770 






VARIABLES. 



I- 

Hwf atrlnin . ....... 

fi 

.25 

1.50 


Ta. nmtInn... 

4 

.20 

.80 


T.ainh nr veal ... . . .. . . 

4 

.15 

.60 


VrMh ..... 

6 

.15 

.90 


Kirim <2-4 dnrenl.. . 

3 

*. 24 

.54 


Bntlor . 

2 

.30 

.60 


W hole mi Ilf ...... 

15 

.03 

.45 


Beans . 

2 

.07 

. 14 


peaa . 

2 

.07 

. 14 



2 

.06 

. 12 


Tapioca ... 

1 

. 09 

.09 


Farina . 

3 

.03 

. 09 


Sugar ...... 

0 

.05 

.30 


Total. 

50 


6. 27 

50, 320 





Total for 30 days. 

in 


8.58 

130,090 

Total for 1 day.... 

3.70 


.286 

4,336.3 






* Pit dozen. 


Cost per week, $2. This dietary contains a customary but unwholesome quantity of sugar. 

Dietary No. 2, containing the protein in the form of the cheaper cuts 
of meat, beans, peas, ami the cereals, and carbohydrates in the form 
of starch, will depend wholly upon the method of cooking, first, as to 
whether or not it can be eaten; second, as to whether or not it can be 
digested. No. 12, which contains the elements of nutrition in the same 
proportion, but in greater variety of food material is yet liable to be so 
combined in unwholesome dishes or to be so badly cooked as to be sent 
away only tasted but not consumed. One may be underfed on the 
most expensive as well as the least expensive dietary; all depends 
upon the right application of heat at the right degree of temperature 
for the right time. 

A much more thorough investigation is needed in respect to the 
digestibility of food when prepared in different ways than has yet been 
given to it. A great deal of work has already been done, and the 
methods of experimenting are tolerably well elaborated. What is now 
required is to collate the results of these experiments, most of which 
are to be found in foreign publications that have not yet been made 
properly accessible to English readers. Further experiments are re¬ 
quired, which must be more systematic and extensive than anything 
thus far attempted. The work, thus far, has beeu that of individuals, 
































































































15 


taken up in a disjointed way without any special system. The coopera¬ 
tion of a large number of workers investigating on a common plan is 
required. There are methods of what is called artificial digestion, i. e ., 
treating food by solvents similar to those which act in the human body. 
Other experiments may consist in feeding men and animals by measure 
and analysis. Experiments of both these kinds have been made in 
Europe and a few have been carried on at the experiment stations of 
the United States, but the results have not yet been compiled and tab¬ 
ulated here. 

An example of the practical application of these investigations is to 
be found in the German army sausage—a complete food in the least 
bulk—needing only water and a little heat for its conversion into a 
full and digestible ration. 

In support of these views a few familiar examples may be given of 
the effect of measured heat. 

The coffee berry .—If this berry is ground and made into an infusion 
without roasting it is worthless. If it is roasted too much so as to be 
nearly carbonized, it is also worthless. If subjected to a uniform heat 
at the right degree for the right time, then subjected to infusion, we 
have coffee. 

Eggs .—If an egg is subjected to a boiling heat 10 minutes the yolk 
becomes mealy and the white becomes horny and indigestible. If sub¬ 
jected to heat at about 180°E. for 10 minutes, both yolk and white be¬ 
come of the consistency of jelly and are exceedingly nutritious and 
digestible. 

Potatoes .—If potatoes are subjected to a little less than a boiling heat 
they are cooked but not in an appetizing or digestible manner. If 
cooked by boiling or by baking at a higher heat, the starch cells are 
burst and they become mealy and digestible. 

Meats .—If tough meat be boiled long enough the fibers may be sepa¬ 
rated and the juices extracted, but each fiber will be tough and horny.- 
If the same meat be subjected to a heat of about 190°F. for a suitable 
time the fiber itself is disintegrated or dissociated, the juices may be 
retained and the whole substance becomes tender and digestible. One 
of the toughest muscles is the beeve’s heart. By the long application 
of a moderate degree of heat in a closed vessel it may be made more 
tender than the tenderloin. 

Fats .—When fats are subjected to a heat high enough to distill or 
“ crack ” them, as it is termed, the volatile portions are diffused in the 
atmosphere making bad odors, while the heavier portions are often 
rendered indigestible. The same fat, subjected to a degree of heat less 
than the distilling or cracking point, is converted into a very necessary 
element of food which may be completely assimilated when consumed 
in the right proportion. 

Beans and peas .—When cooked for a long time at a moderate heat, 
beans and peas are not only more digestible but have a flavor which is 


16 


utterly wanting when they are subjected to a high degree of heat fora 
short time. The appetizing merit of the old-fashioned brick oven was 
tine to the low degree of heat developed and applied for many hours. 

Wheat bread .—Bread from one half a batch of dough, baked quickly 
at a high heat may be very light, very white, and very tasteless. The 
other half baked twice as long at a low heat will be as light, creamy in 
color, and full of flavor. The first batch will dry up or mold speedily; 
the second will keep in an appetizing and nutritious condition for many 
days. 

Peanuts .—These nuts must be baked or roasted before being eaten. 
When treated for the extraction of oil they are first heated to a certain 
temperature. The kernel contains 50 per cent oil, 24 per cent albumi¬ 
noids. 

The art of cooking as now practiced is wholly empirical and to a 
great extent bad. Almost all rapid or quick cooking is bad cooking. 
The science of cooking, as I have stated, consists in the regulated ap¬ 
plication of the right degree of heat for a suitable time to work the 
true conversion of the raw food materials into nutritious food. If there 
is a variation of any considerable amount in either of these elements, 
i. e., in the uniformity or degree of heat or in the time of its application, 
the cooking will as a rule be bad. For instance, if auimal foods are 
subjected to an excessive heat as they are apt to be in the frying pan 
and in the cooking stove, they become more productive of dyspepsia 
than of energy. The development of a food laboratory may therefore 
be directed toward the right methods of preparation of the food of 
mankind. Unless that object is incorporated with the other work of 
the experiment stations, they may totally fail in their true object, 
which is the final conversion of the nutrients in food material to the 
nutrition of mankind. 

The wealth and progress of a nation depend not only on quantity but 
alsoon quality ini t s production. Even the quality may fail of its purpose 
if the science of consumption is not developed so as to assure a repro¬ 
duction of the maximum amount of energy. In the period before the 
development of steam, the implements of civilization were drawn by 
the slow, ill-fed team of oxen; progress was slow and the increase of 
wealth very slight. When the stored up energy of the coal fields was 
utilized in the swift locomotive, progress was correspondingly rapid, 
and the increase in wealth kept pace with it. 

Human energy is only one link in the correlation of forces. Its 
source is the me ultimately as-tliat of the ox and of the locomotive, 
namely, chemical decomposition and recomposition. There is nothing 
mysterious about it. The manifestations of human energy are in two 
forms, that of purely mechanical and muscular work—the trench dig¬ 
ger; and that of skill or mental power, directing the mechanical power, 
and thus rendering it tenfold more effective—the skilled mechanic, the 
inventor, the writer, the thinker. 


17 


The source of this human energy, in 'whatever form it manifests itself, 
is the same, namely, the chemical reactions in the body, dependent 
upon the food eaten. A given amount of food may produce a given 
amount of trench digging, or a new invention, or a poem. Whatever 
else is necessary, the food must not be lacking. 

Under what conditions this energy which is obtained from food can be 
best utilized is perhaps the most important unsolved problem of the age. 
This country waits for a true science of nutrition. If it is sound policy 
for the Government to appoint a commission to determine howto lessen 
the waste of our store of coal, from which we derive mechanical power, 


it is surely as sound policy to spend a little money for the prevention 
of waste of the human energy, viz, the waste of our food supply. The 
causes of waste are to be looked for in special directions. In the case 
of the steam engine, it is in the imperfect combustion or waste of coal. 
The waste of human energy is to be found in the misuse or waste of food 
materials and also in the waste of food by bad cooking. Improper 
nutrition not only causes a waste of energy, but it is injurious to the 
machine itself in which the energy is produced; it is the cause of dis¬ 
ease in the human body. The lines of investigation which ought to be 
considered are, first, the best means to produce the highest amount of 
human energy with the least waste; that is to say, the best form in 
which food materials are to be consumed; how far can predigestion 
outside the body take the place of work done in the body without det¬ 
riment to the machinery. Another line of investigation may be the 
following: If a simple, monotonous food is best for the animal, is a 
greater variety, and especially are stimulating flavors, better for the 
mental work of the human thinker than for the muscular work of the 
human animal? Or perhaps this problem might be reversed; may not 
the human animal be developed into a higher type of the human thinker 
by developing right methods in the choice of food, and in its prepara¬ 
tion? These are perhaps somewhat visionary suggestions. They are- 
put in this form in order to give point to the suggestions submitted. 
Third, what is the relation of physical exercise, apart from work, to 
the nutrition of the body as an instrument of thought? The number 
of problems which may be presented for solution in this matter is 
very great. We have nothing to do with the source of energy, the 
sun. We have to do with the conservation of this energy. We have 
yet much to learn of the best means of conserving and utilizing the 
best thought in the world. 

It may be assumed that the students in the agriculti il colleges, to 
which agricultural experiment stations are attached, are thoughtful 
men, observers, and investigators. They may themselves become the 
subjects of observation. They may develop a true art of applying heat 
to the conversion of nutritious food. They may vary the preparation 
of the nutrients and they may establish by observation, each upon 
himself and upon his fellow students, the method of nutrition which 
0105—No. 17-2 



18 


serves in the best manner the development of the activities of the 
student. 

If the law will not now permit the application of the funds appropri¬ 
ated to agricultural experiment stations to the study of the nutrition 
of the human animal, then it might be judicious to call upon Congress 
to pass an amendment to the law, which might perhaps be well 
accompanied with a small additional appropriation in order to complete 
the service and to round out the whole science of nutrition by includ¬ 
ing the nutrition of mankind as a final object of the whole work. 

The importance of this matter as an element of national welfare cun 
not be exaggerated. There are precedents to justify such a course in 
the work done in other countries. In many countries upon the conti¬ 
nent of Europe, notably in Germany and in Italy, the continuous pres¬ 
sure of passive war, the withdrawal of great numbers of men in the 
prime of life from productive industries, who must be sustained by 
taking from the working people the most necessary portion of their 
food product, has compelled the attention of paternal governments to 
be given to this subject lest the pressure of want should culminate in 
revolution. Under these conditions very great progress has been made 
in the development of the science of nutrition, notably in Germany; 
and many undertakings have been experimented with in diffusing a 
knowledge of the right use of food materials. Very important infor¬ 
mation could be obtained from our foreign ministers and consuls upon 
this subject in response to carefully framed questions. The consular 
reports already made have contained very valuable information. The 
heads of great industrial establishments have interested themselves in 
the matter; one of the principal elements in the contest between the 
more conservative members of society and the socialists in Germany 
being the resistance of the socialists to the beneficial undertakings or 
“patronage” of the heads of private establishments; their contention 
being that the state and the state only should provide for the common 
welfare of the people even in such matters as these. 

The motive in this country for conducting this work would be some¬ 
thing very different from the motives which actuate foreign govern¬ 
ments. Nevertheless, the information which could be obtained in many 
quarters about what has been accomplished in Europe would be of the 
greatest service in directing our own course. 

The chief end in European investigation has been to bring about 
economy in the consumption of food material, economy in the use of 
fuel being enforced by scarcity. Scarcity of fuel is one prime cause of 
the superiority of foreign cooking over our own. The French and 
Italians are compelled to get the most complete results from the mini¬ 
mum of fuel. They can not waste it in frying and broiling or in the 
high heat of our cooking stoves. Our very abundance of fuel is one of 
the causes of waste, both of food material and of the fuel alike. It 
would not be suitable to cite examples of ordinary cooking in a treatise 




19 

of tliis kind, but some general considerations or examples may be sub¬ 
mitted. 

Before dealing even with these examples 1 may again present the 
facts which have so often been urged. With respect to 90 per cent of 
the population of tins country it lias been conclusively proved that 
from 40 to 00 per cent of the average income of each family is expended 
in the purchase of food material. In the eastern part of this couutry 
the average expenditure of income for food of working people, or peo¬ 
ple in receipt of moderate incomes, is one-half. In the West, where 
food is more abundant, it is somewhat less. The proportion expended 
by common laborers for their family supply often reaches 00 per cent 
of their entire earnings. The subject to be dealt with and developed 
in the food,laboratories, therefore, affects that element of expenditure 
which costs the most and in which there is the greatest waste. 

If it should be found expedient or should be made lawful to establish 
food laboratories in connection with the agricultural experiment sta¬ 
tions, it would be essential to make a beginning in what might be called 
experiment stations in the preparation of food, to accompany or even to 
precede a true food laboratory. 

In these experimental cooking establishments food material would be 
dealt with practically according to the right theory of composition and 
combination resulting from laboratory work, and again, the laboratory 
work would be checked and in some measure directed by the practical 
results of the experimental cooking, the tests being made upon the 
students in the agricultural colleges with which the stations are con¬ 
nected. The failure of so many apparently sound theories of nutrition 
has been due to this lack of practical cooperation. It is not only 
necessary to furnish a wholesome diet of known nutritive value, but 
the taste of the consumers must be educated lest they should reject 
that which is wholesome and retain that which is called for by a de¬ 
praved or uneducated appetite. 

On what model might these food experiment stations or cooking 
establishments be established f The only example of a food experi¬ 
ment station known to me which has been brought to a successful and 
self-sustaining point is the Xew England Kitchen in Boston, Mass. 
The laboratory work in connection with this station has been of neces¬ 
sity limited, and the work has been made possible only through the 
courtesy of the chemical department of the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology. This establishment has beeu under the responsible direc¬ 
tion of Mrs. Ellen H. Richards, who has given me the following data in 
support of the suggestion which I have made in this memorandum: 

The capital was furnished by charitable persons, who were willing to 
take the risk with a view to establishing a kitchen on a self-sustaining 
basis. The plant now serves food for about 1,000 noon lunches and 
300 suppers each day, besides miscellaneous sales of bread, of milk, 
and of broth specifically prepared for the sick. 


The total area of the bakery, of the kitchen, and of the basement is 
about 2,000 square feet. Both the apparatus and the space occupied 
might be utilized for double the amount of work if a second .<et of help 
wen* employed. 

The outfit consists of one Middleby oven; ten Aladdin ovens; three 
gas stoves; one gas table designed expressly for the kitchen; one gas 
water heater; a small upright boiler which runs four steam jacketed 
kettles; one open steamer; one hot-water boiler and the radiator; vari¬ 
ous cooking kettles, pans, dishes, etc.; tables for the preparation of 
the food, and a plain counter for the sale of the product. 

This outfit cost about $1,500. The experimental work required to 
perfect both instruments and apparatus, with the skilled supervision 
necessary for a long period in the development of this work, cost in all 
$5,000. The product of this work consists mainly of the knowledge of 
which the kitchen is ready to become the almoner. 

The materials used are the best quality of the least expensive food 
substances, such as the neck and shin of beef, the cereals, beans, peas, 
and other legumes. The products are soups, stews, pressed meats, 
bread, especially that made of whole wheat, and a variety of simple 
dishes. 

None of the food is eaten on the premises. The patronage once 
gained is retained, and the favorable comments often made encourage 
the belief that slow but steady progress is being made in teaching the 
art of nutrition among a considerable number of people who had very 
little knowledge of the right use of food before this experiment station 
was established. 





























































